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IL Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

SWB RailRiders Game Notes - August 26, 2021

August 26, 2021 - International League (IL)
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News Release


Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (57-37) at Lehigh Valley IronPigs (43-53)

LHP Matt Krook (2-4, 5.15 ERA) vs. RHP Jack Perkins (Triple-A Debut)

| Game 95 | Road Game 49 | Coca-Cola Park | Allentown, PA | August 26, 2021 | First Pitch 7:05 p.m. |

THE OPENING ACT: The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders starting rotation has turned in a series of great performances on the current road trip. In the eight games, SWB starters are 3-2 with a 2.37 ERA (10 ER/38.0 IP). RailRiders lid-lifters have struck out 40 batters and walked only 13 while yielding just 20 hits in the duration of their work. From Game Two of Thursday's doubleheader through the second inning on Saturday, Sean Boyle, JP Sears and Deivi García combined to throw 14.2 consecutive hitless innings, walking four and striking out 13 in the process. The stretch has lowered SWB's starting pitcher ERA from 5.32 to 5.01 on the season.

LEGION OF DOOM: With Wednesday night's win over Lehigh Valley, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders improved to 31-17 (.646) on the road this season, the best mark of any team in Triple-A East this season. Only Jacksonville (30-20) can claim more than 27 wins away from home, and in the Northeast Division, Worcester (23-21) has the second-best road record. In all of Triple-A, only Reno (35-19, .648) has a better road record than Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season.

CREAM OF THE CROP: Throughout the 2021 season, the RailRiders bullpen has been the backbone of the pitching staff, posting a 2.99 ERA as a unit and racking up 42 of SWB's 57 wins. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has the second-best bullpen ERA in full season baseball (minors and majors), trailing only Buffalo (2.87). The bullpen is posting impressive rates of 10.82 K/9, 3.98 BB/9, and has limited opposing batters to just a .201 batting average this season. The bullpen has allowed only 5 ER in its last 25.0 IP (1.80 ERA) since August 18, a span of seven games.

THE FINAL STRETCH BEFORE THE FINAL STRETCH™: Including tonight's contest with Lehigh Valley, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders have only 24 games remaining in the 2021 regular season. An incredible 42% (10-of-24) of SWB's remaining games are on the road against the IronPigs. The remainder of the schedule consists of a 14-game homestand against Buffalo (8 games) and Rochester (6 games). The RailRiders begin play Thursday 4.5 games behind the Durham Bulls (63-34) for first place overall in Triple-A East.

OUT OF THE RED, INTO THE BLACK: After the worst run of the season which saw the RailRiders go 6-13 in a 19-game stretch from July 25 through August 17, the RailRiders have seemingly turned a corner, going 5-2 in their last seven games. While that is not an overly-impressive record, SWB has out-scored its opponents by a dominant 46-15 mark in those games. The run of strong play has helped the RailRiders erase a 2.0-game deficit in the Northeast Division standings to Buffalo and enter play Thursday night with a one-game lead.

CLOSE CALLS AND BLOWOUTS: The RailRiders have played an extraordinary number of close games this season, with 49 of SWB's 94 games being decided by one or two runs (52.1%). Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has performed roughly average in these close contests, going 15-13 (.536) in one-run games and 11-10 (.524) in two-run games. Not to be out-done, the RailRiders have also participated in their fair share of extreme blowout games, decided by eight-or-more runs. In 12 such contests, SWB is 10-2 (.833) on the season, and is part of the reason why the team is +126 in run differential this season, second-best in Triple-A East.

HITTING HERE IN ALLENTOWN: RailRiders OF Greg Allen has been on a tear in 13 games since being returned to the team from the Yankees. The switch-hitter is batting .447 (17-for-38) with 7 R, 4 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 3 BB, 6 K, and 3 HBP. Allen had a 12-game on-base streak snapped on Saturday with an 0-for-3 performance, but during the streak his season batting line improved from .263/.402/.343 to .321/.440/.460, a 155-point jump in his OPS.

SEAN BOYLE RULES: On Monday RHP Sean Boyle was named Triple-A East Pitcher of the Week for August 16 through 22. In his one outing of the week, Boyle threw a complete game, 7-inning no-hitter at Polar Park against the Worcester Red Sox in his first career Triple-A Start. He became the third Triple-A East Pitcher of the Week Award winner for the RailRiders this season, joining Deivi García (May 10-16) and Luis Gil (July 19-25). Before this year, the RailRiders had not been honored with a league pitcher of the week award since August 22-28, 2016, when Jonathan Holder won International League Pitcher of the Week for his legendary 11 consecutive strikeout performance. However, on Tuesday Boyle was transferred to the Double-A Somerset Patriots.

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